Battle of the $9 Granacha(e)s

     I didn't get around to this post until today, but I've had both of these wines with dinner over the past week.  Nothing says reality like going from a weekend of high-end, well-aged Bordeaux to $9 bottles from 2008 and 2009.  Alas, I am a man of the people and I drink as the people drink.  Give me jugs of fresh table wine and peasant bread.  Wait. . . I don't eat bread.  But I'll take the wine.  That reminds me of last summer in Provence.  There was something magical about drinking cool rose from a jug.  This was table wine, served on a terrace and I couldn't have been any more content.  So, back to my granacha(e)s.

     Why the parentheses?  In Spain the spelling is granacha and in France its granache.  Same grape though.  For those that don't know, granache is the key grape in the Southern Rhone and I am obsessive about the Rhone in general.  Lest we forget my first case of wine: Cote Rotie (the burnt hill).  Anyways, one of these bottles was from the well respected Southern Rhone producer Andre Brunel.  I've had some of Andre's higher end wines and I'll be frank.  This one lacked anything remarkable.  For $9, it wasn't a bad deal, but it just didn't have much of anything going on.  It was flat with no rusticity.  I wouldn't say I'm disappointed because it was definitely drinkable, but as compared with the Spanish granacha from Castillo de Monjardin, it was pathetic.  The Castillo had a nice level of spice and leather and a good bit of that granacha rusticity that I so love.  This wine could easily sell in the $13 or $14 price point and still be a good value.  However, at $9 it was great!  So, if you must choose between these two, I'd go with the Spaniard.  However, don't let this dissuade you from Andre Brunel because I've had great bottles from his other selections.